Dean O’Gorman & Lee Pace Officially Cast In Peter Jackson’s THE HOBBIT

I’m very pleased to be welcoming two new cast members to our team.

Dean O’Gorman will be playing Fili. Dean’s a terrific Kiwi actor, who I am thrilled to be working with. He’s recently been in an excellent TV series down here called “The Almighty Johnsons”, and I should let fans of that show know that our shooting schedule allows Dean to continue with a second series next year. Dean will be joining us next week.

I’m also pleased to announce that Lee Pace will be playing the Elven King Thranduil. Casting these Tolkien stories is very difficult, especially the Elven characters, and Lee has always been our first choice for Thranduil. He’s going to be great. We loved his performance in a movie called “The Fall” a few years ago, and have been hoping to work with him since. When we were first discussing who would be right for Thranduil, Lee came into mind almost immediately.

It’s been a great week, and I’m looking forward to the next few. It’s going to be interesting…

More soon.

Cheers,

Peter J

As an extra bonus, Jackson also posted this photo along with. “An old friend came to visit me on set today…” Actor Hugo Weaving who played Elrond in THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy. His character is the father of Arwen, played in by Liv Tyler. Hugo Weaving will reprise his role as Elrond the elf for the two-part Hobbit movie now being shot in Wellington. According to the Dominion Post, “THE HOBBIT spokeswoman Melissa Booth confirmed that Weaving would feature in Jackson’s 3-D prequel to The Lord of the Rings trilogy.”

THE HOBBIT films are co-produced by New Line Cinema and MGM, with New Line managing production. Warner Bros Pictures is handling worldwide theatrical distribution, with select international territories as well as all international television licensing being handled by MGM. The two films are planned for release in late 2012 and 2013, respectively.

THE HOBBIT is set in Middle-earth 60 years before Tolkien’s THE LORD OF THE RINGS, which Jackson and his filmmaking team brought to the big screen in the blockbuster trilogy that culminated with the Oscar-winning THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING.

The two films, with screenplays by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Guillermo del Toro and Peter Jackson, will be shot consecutively in digital 3D using the latest camera and stereo technology. Filming is taking place at Stone Street Studios, Wellington, and on location around New Zealand.

Check out THE HOBBIT’s Facebook page HERE, Peter Jackson’s Facebook page HERE and The Lord of the Rings Trilogy Official Facebook Page HERE. Visit the official HOBBIT blog HERE.